The “More than Moore” revolution has already happened. Semiconductor manufacturing processes are no longer exclusive to the integrated circuit (IC) industry. Today, LEDs, MEMS, and power devices have all integrated semiconductor manufacturing processes. But what is the status of the More-than-Moore supply chain?
Yole Développement (Yole) and Serma Technologies (Serma) have partnered to create the Successful Semiconductor Fabless (SSF 2015) conference, which is dedicated to the More-than-Moore supply chain and its optimization. From November 4-6 in Paris, France, this event features a comprehensive program gathering leaders from diverse sectors, including MEMS, Internet-of-Things, microelectronics and power electronics players. The third time SSF has been run, the 2015 conference is aimed at those with management responsibility at semiconductor-related organizations, providing presentations, debates and networking breaks. To discover the agenda and register, click here.
The global semiconductor industry is now growing much more slowly than four or five years ago, mainly due year-on-year decreases in the unit price of key functions. The engines of past growth have also slowed down.
“More than Moore” applications include MEMS, sensors, LEDs, power devices, 3D assembly and heterogeneous integration solutions and are totally different. These businesses represent more than US$50 billion in 2015, clearly a smaller market than digital ICs. But this market is growing much faster – Yole’s analysts expect 15% CAGR for the next five years.
2015 has been a singular year so far. Yole has seen this growth diffuse from More than Moore industries to new applications. For example:
- LEDs made on silicon substrates are now almost as good as legacy LEDs that use sapphire substrates, with Toshiba leading the way.
- 3D integration processes with Through Silicon Vias (TSV) are now in production for a wide range of components, including MEMS devices, CMOS image sensors (CIS), memory chips and logic/memory integration solutions. The latest graphics card released by AMD last June with an innovative high-bandwidth memory device is a revolution in the PC gaming industry.
- Integration of extra optical functions, either visible or infrared, on top of standard imaging is now possible. The latest solutions come from FLIR in the IR imaging area and from poLight for solid-state autofocus.
- GaN-on-silicon devices, mainly for power applications but also radio-frequency functions, are also moving towards production. Companies including GaN Systems, EPC, and Qorvo are strongly involved in this market and will clearly impact its growth in the near future.
Every day, Yole’s analysts see more examples that mix silicon wafers and MEMS processes. This approach enables semiconductor manufacturing steps to be integrated into the non-IC device supply chain. It brings devices that were initially manufactured with traditional technologies directly into wafer fabs. This combination of silicon wafers and MEMS technologies is the trigger for the ‘More Than Moore’ revolution.
Now, the challenge is to define the right supply chain and put in place. Companies need to move from a concept to a prototype, to engineering samples and then finally release the first successful design. Moving from a good design to a reliable manufacturing supply chain able to produce millions of devices in the required specifications can be a major challenge.
This is why Yole Développement and Serma Technologies have combined their expertise to create a unique place dedicated to the “More than Moore” supply chain: Successful Semiconductor Fabless 2015 (SSF 2015).
Taking place from November 4-6 in Paris, France, the SSF 2015 conference is all about discussions and interactions among the companies that are creating this supply chain. Both partners invite you to share your experiences with fabless companies from different fields. More than this, SSF is a real opportunity to learn more about the whole semiconductor supply chain, its market needs and business opportunities. Presentations and networking have been selected to provide a much better understanding of the dos and don’ts in supply chain management and the optimization of company value. The SSF 2015 program is now available.
2015 is an incredible year! Make sure you are part of it and register right now on i-micronews.com.
Source: www.yole.fr
